President Joe Biden mocked a reporter Thursday after she questioned remarks he made during a press conference Wednesday that critics claim gave Russia's President Vladimir Putin the 'green light' to invade Ukraine.
Ahead of an infrastructure meeting at the White House on Thursday, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked the president: 'Why are you waiting on Putin to make the first move, sir?'
'What a stupid question,' Biden replied after lightly chuckling.
The president has been known for lashing out at the press when he doesn't like their questions.
The exchange came as Biden faces widespread criticism for claiming US retaliation for Russian aggression in Ukraine would depend on the details.
President Joe Biden (pictured Thursday) lashed out at a reporter who questioned the potentially catastrophic remarks he made during a press conference Wednesday that critics claim gave Russian President Vladimir Putin the 'green light' to invade Ukraine
During his rambling two-hour press conference on Wednesday, Biden said: 'Russia will be held accountable if it invades. And it depends on what it does.'
'It's one thing if it's a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera,' he continued. 'But if they actually do what they're capable of doing with the forces amassed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia if they further invade Ukraine.'
The president and top administration officials worked Thursday to clarify his seeming waffling on Russia's aggression.
Biden reiterated that if 'any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion' and it would be met with a 'severe and coordinated economic response.'
However, American politicians and world leaders are still finding the 'minor incursion' remark unsettling.
'We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted.
'Deeply troubling and dangerous,' echoed Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican.
'A green light for Putin,' said Republican Rep. Mike Garcia of California, who is one of many to use that phrase.
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich (pictured) asked the president on Thursday: 'Why are you waiting on Putin to make the first move, sir?' Biden replied: 'What a stupid question'
The testy exchange comes as the president faces widespread criticism for remarks he made during a press conference Wednesday (pictured). Biden said that Russia ‘will be held accountable if it invades’ Ukraine, but then added that ‘it depends on what it
